


Following Yonder Star

by linguisticallycunning



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Smut, F/F, Major Original Character(s), Uber, mentions of assault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:48:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21852472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linguisticallycunning/pseuds/linguisticallycunning
Summary: This is an uber J/7 story set in the modern day. The characters are original but are heavily influenced by Janeway and Seven.It takes place during a storm at sea, just before Christmas. Will the Captain be able to save mystery woman who washes up on the shore?
Relationships: Kathryn Janeway/Seven of Nine
Comments: 25
Kudos: 52





	1. Chapter One- The Wreck

**Author's Note:**

> This is an uber story. That being said, I stayed pretty close to character, the influences should be blatant at points.
> 
> I was itching to write a Christmas story. I’m usually too slow for season appropriate tales but this one jumped out at me.
> 
> I’ll be curious to hear what you make of it.

Captain Katerina James sat in her drafty office, her eyes were locked on the steam smeared window and the snow pelting down. The flakes were fine and blowing so hard it obscured everything in sight. Visibility had to be less than a foot. This would be a hard one for her crew. They were desperate for their holiday leave. Katerina did not celebrate Christmas or any other holiday for that matter. Christmas was six days away still and it was all her crew had spoken of for the last week. She was almost as desperate for their leave as well, she’d long grown weary of their cramped company. This storm seemed to have no end. Her mind struggled to remember it had only been snowing for the last two days. The previous storms had been mild so far. It was foolish to think that trend would continue.

It wasn’t so much that she cared about the coming holiday, Christmas was just another day on the calendar for her. One that she chose to ignore. She hated it really and especially hated the severe drop off in productivity from her usually efficient crew. Even her favorite, Lieutenant Torrent, had tried to beg off before the storm had set in. Her sister was sick and her mother was struggling to care for her and still work full time. The Captain hadn’t even let her finish speaking before denying the request.

Captain James commanded a band of misfits and renegades. They were essentially a coastal search and rescue team and the areas they patrolled were at the very edges of civilization. If the Captain could see through the blowing snow, her eyes would fall over the jagged cliffs below, out over the angry waves of the North Atlantic. They were on a remote island, being blasted and bashed by an unending nor’easter, the ice-laden winds laying waste to trees and power lines alike.

The storm would keep them at their posts, shore-bound and antsy. Leave would be suspended until the weather cleared and right now it didn’t look like that would ever happen. Most of her crew were comprised of locals from the mainland. She was one of the few that called the island home. Of course she had family, but they were a lifetime away. Out of her reach in more ways than one.

She’d lost her parents in quick succession, nearly twenty years ago now. The loss had torn her siblings asunder. Blaming each other, they destroyed the fragile bonds they’d shared. They’d parted in anger. Then her brother, John, had died in a freak tractor accident. That had been the end of it all. Her sister, Pamela, blamed her, blamed her unnaturalness, her aberrant, sinful lifestyle, for all of it. God was punishing them for Katerina. That’s when she left for good, and seldom did she look back, never with regret.

It was better that way, at least that’s what she told herself. All that was another lifetime ago. The scars remained, all these years later, and the holidays often made them sear with a ghostly pain that could not actually be real. Katerina had become bitter and jaded, her cynicism minimizing the hollow where her heart had once been. She lived on a barren island on purpose, her solitude a natural protection. That the storm had driven her crew to her doorstep was unfortunate, their incessant chatter about Christmas, however, set her teeth on edge. She’d snapped at them repeatedly, assigning them harsh chores as they battened down for the next storm surge.

The pain of the past persisted now, deepening as the phone began to ring. It wasn’t the phone though, it was her transponder lighting up. In weather like this, it could only mean one thing, a wreck.

The klaxons were sounded, the fog horn blared, and her crew was assembled within minutes. They were relegated to teams of two and they headed out on snowmobiles, their rumbling motors drowned out by the howling gale. Katerina left her two youngest crewmen, both ensigns, behind to man the radios and the lamp of the lighthouse. The Captain herself hopped aboard her own sno-cat and roared up behind her speeding crew.

Wind whipped her face as she squinted through her goggles at a sea of white. The headlights helped nothing, their light merely bouncing and refracting off the spinning snow. It was a hazy glow of red and white, nebulous and difficult to navigate. Luckily, the wreck was only a mile up the coast and even in the blizzard conditions, it took little time. It was odd to have a ship wrecked on this, more sheltered side of the island. It was west-facing and protected from the worst of the Atlantic. Storm surge was usually the problem on this side, wrecks, hardly ever.

Tonight though, the wreck found the rocky crags of the lighthouse beach. Her crew self-deployed and she watched as their torches bobbed along the sandy, snowy, drifts. The Captain hopped off her snowmobile and followed the trail of light forward, the sound of the waves now eclipsing all other noise.

She’d hoped they’d find her intact, whatever wounded vessel it was that had breached. She knew it was a pipe dream. The closer the Captain drew, she could make out nothing but shards, as if the ship had been blown to smithereens. If that was true, she was risking the lives of her crew on a fool’s errand. There were likely no survivors. But she couldn’t be sure and she’d be damned if she left anyone to freeze to death on the godforsaken beach.

They found found her in the surf, her hands were bound, her skin an eerie shade of whitish blue. Katerina ran to her, helping to pull her from the water and then checking for any sign of life. They lowered her onto a stretcher that would fit onto the back of the ute Chuckles had driven over. The Captain leaned over the unconscious woman, as she pulled off her own gloves. She could feel a pulse but it was weak. Adrenaline shot through her as she cleared the mystery woman’s airway. The Captain began CPR, but as she lowered her mouth to the drowned woman’s lips, a surge of water spewed up, hitting her face. The Captain sat back, damp and startled as the woman coughed and sputtered on the stretcher before her. With her hands still bound, she began to flail until Katerina finally lowered her face to meet the panicked blue eyes blinking in fear. She did her best to soothe the frightened woman as she gently unbound her bloodied and bruised wrists. Helping her survivor to sit up sent a charge of electricity up her spine, one Katerina would later call adrenaline but it was not that. She couldn’t think further though, she had to get this soaking wet creature out of the gale before hypothermia took them all.

They wrapped the woman in blankets but she was strong enough to hang on the back of a snowmobile, the Captain insisted it be her own. No one was about to argue. The rest of her crew had searched the beach but to no avail. No survivors. Not even any bodies. She recalled them all, leading them back to their fortified lodging, their lone survivor needing far more attention if she was to continue surviving. It was likely too, that she would deplete their emergency supplies, leaving them at risk in the middle of a storm. All for what, a drowned rat?

It was odd they had a full doctor in their small crew complement. A medic was more traditional but the harshness of their turf warranted more than average medical needs. He went to work immediately, horrified by both the state of the mystery woman as well as the nearly frost bitten crew.

The Captain had forgone her own treatment to stay by the side of the nameless woman who had slipped back into unconsciousness. It was odd that the unfeeling Captain was showering attention on this unknown woman. It was odd to the Captain herself, for as much as she tried to remain objective, the more concerned she became. The Doctor worked quickly and as he did the Captain noticed the woman’s features. She had shorn blonde hair, cut with a knife, and it jaggedly fell around her bruised face. There was a deep gash above her left eye and a long scar that ran from her right temple to halfway down her jaw. The top of the scar was puckered in an almost star shape. Her crystalline blue eyes suddenly snapped open, causing the Captain to gasp.

Panic gripped the young woman’s features and she began to fight and flail. Both Katerina and the Doctor tried in vain to calm her, their words hollow against the thrashing of her limbs. Despite her physical reactions, the woman said nothing. Only a few guttural yells emanated from her emaciated frame, sounding more like the cries of an animal rather than that of a wounded human.

Realizing the woman might not speak English, Katerina made her best attempts in both German and French. Her Russian was terrible but she tried that too. Nothing calmed her.

The Captain had enough. She stopped speaking, warning the Doctor back with her glare before turning her eyes on the wild woman before her. She leaned forward and grasped the woman’s shoulders with her strong hands as her grey eyes steeled against the unblinking blue beneath her.

“You are safe here but you must calm down,” her voice had dropped to her lowest, most deadly register. She wasn’t going for fear but this had to stop.

The woman responded instantly, her eyes locked on the Captain’s glare and her limbs lost all fight. She sat back limply, unable to break the hypnotic eye contact. Then, before she realized what she was doing, she leaned forward against the strange, small woman, this woman who’d saved her from certain death. As her cheek made contact with Captain James’ shoulder, the smaller redhead reacted instinctively, wrapping her arms around the waif. Sobs wracked the fragile body and the Captain continued to hold onto her tightly. It had been ages since anyone had touched the Captain, nothing more that a bracing handshake. Katerina was unprepared for the feeling of those long skinny arms wrapping around her, the aching sobs echoing in her own chest.

As the sobbing began to slow, Katerina looked down over the broken form in her arms. The hair was clearly cut as a punishment of some kind. As it fell forward, it revealed a black line tattoo on the back of her neck. It was a bar code. This woman had been trafficked, and from the slight fading to the lines, it wasn’t recent. Her hands had been bound for a long time as well, the bruising was extensive and she’d sprained the left one some time ago, before she was bound. The Captain was quickly realizing they hadn’t just saved this mystery from the sea, but from the monsters within it as well.

A few hours later, the Captain sat alone in her cabin. The crew was finishing their dinner, they’d be retiring to the emergency bunks shortly. She knew they would all rather be in their own beds tonight, not these lumpy, single cots in cabins that slept three apiece. Being the only permanent resident did have some perks, the private quarters being the best of the scarce lot.

When the last of the voices below had quieted, Katerina crept from her room, taking care to skip the creaky seventh step. Her crew had dispersed. Only her night watch was on duty and he was manning the lamp several floors above. Katerina walked quietly through the darkened corridors until she found herself standing out of the tiny infirmary. The Doctor should have been off duty by now but she could her him whistling Puccini through the ajar door.

Stepping inside, she saw the Doctor hovering over their rescue. The blonde woman was asleep, or had been, her eyes snapping open at the sound of the Captain’s footfall.

“I was just coming to check on you?” The Captain smiled tightly, as an uncommon amount of relief flooded over her.

The blonde smiled back up at her and struggled up to a sitting position. She was now dressed in light grey Coast Guard sweats and she was wearing bright red slipper socks on her feet. They’d pulled her out of the drink barefoot, it was amazing she had her toes at all.

“She hasn’t said a word,” the Doctor said quietly. “Otherwise, she seems to be making a remarkable recovery.”

“If that’s the case, then I think I can find a better arrangement than sleeping down here in the bay, it may not be more comfortable but at least more private.”

The Doctor eyed the Captain quizzically but said nothing. He knew the only spare room in the complex was attached to the Captain’s quarters. He also knew Captain James was not known for her generosity.

The Captain was about to mime some sort of explanation when the mute woman suddenly jumped off the cot to stand, looking down at the Captain.

“Show me,” she said with a slight accent that sounded like everywhere and nowhere all at once.


	2. Chapter Two—The First Night

The Captain stared a moment too long, her mouth slightly agape, and she found herself unable to blink. It was true, the woman before her was beautiful, gorgeous really, but it wasn’t the perfectly shaped features, not even those full lips, that entranced the Captain. It was the clear blue acuity of the woman’s enormous eyes. They were an abyss, like looking into an eddy, but never seeing the bottom. Katerina couldn’t pull her eyes away.

The Doctor made a noise with his throat that was supposed to sound like a cough. It didn’t but the Captain’s eyes snapped over to him anyway. The break in eye contact restored the Captain’s composure as well as her voice.

“You speak English?” She asked turning her eyes back to the blonde.

“Some,” she replied tersely.

“Do you have a name?”

“Do you?” the woman countered contentiously.

“I suppose that’s fair. My name is Captain Katerina James. You were fished out of the North Atlantic by my team. They have retired for the evening, I imagine you would like to do the same.”

The blonde nodded before looking away. She took a deep breath as she looked down at her bandaged wrists.

“My name is Anya,” she said quietly. “There is nothing more I can tell you.”

“Well Anya, I think we could all do with some sleep. The storm isn’t supposed to break for another 24-48 hours. We’ll have plenty of time for further introductions.”

The Captain turned back to the Doctor.

“So she’ll live, then?”

The Doctor looked unsure about the question.

“Well she’s not out of the woods yet,” he said. “That wrist is infected. I started her on some antibiotics but I’ll need to see her tomorrow to debride and redress it. And if she spikes a fever, I need to know immediately.” The Doctor’s eyes traveled from Anya to the Captain and back again. He gave a little snort which the Captain chose to ignore.

“I’ll keep an eye on her. Come on, Anya, let’s get you settled.”

With that, the two women departed the drafty bay, the shorter one guiding the taller on with a light arm around her shoulders.

The Captain dropped her arm as they climbed the stairs single file, just to the next floor. They walked the short distance down one hallway and then another, into an extension that housed the Captain’s quarters. The spare room was laid out like a suite, it’s door was catty corner the Captain’s.

The Doctor had been correct in his estimations of the Captain’s generosity. She was not being generous in offering these arrangements. She was being suspicious. She wanted this enigma within her eyesight. If there was any other reason she’d made the offer, she turned a blind eye to it. This was strictly business.

Katerina unlocked the door, opening it wide. She fumbled for the light switch and almost wished she hadn’t. It was dusty in there and crates were piled awkwardly around. Grumbling, she moved the crates into a corner and quickly made the bed before granting Anya entrance.

“My room is just next door. There is a full washroom at the other end of the hallway.”

“Thank you,” Anya said, her eyes guarded once again.

“We can figure out more in the morning. Goodnight, Anya,” the Captain smiled. “Sweet dreams.” Sweet dreams!? What was the matter with her? She didn’t say things like ‘sweet dreams’, not to anyone!

“Sweet dreams?” Questioned Anya, unfamiliar with the turn of phrase.

“Sleep well,” Katerina tried again, covering the softness of her previous words.

“You as well,” Anya said shyly before disappearing behind the heavy door.

The scream woke her at 0249. She looked at her watch as her feet hit the floor. At first she’d thought it was a klaxon, another crash. But then it came again, a howl like a wounded animal. The Captain, clad only in boxers and a t-shirt, burst from her room into room next door. There were no locks on the doors, no true expectation of privacy, but when the Captain spied Anya, curled in the fetal position on her bed, she almost felt guilty at the intrusion.

Any annoyance Katerina had felt at having her sleep violently interrupted faded at the sight of Anya in such distress. Then the next cry began and Anya’s whole body unfurled and she began to thrash, strangled cries coming from deep in her throat. Without thinking, Katerina ran forward, ducking the swinging limbs, until she could reach the still sleeping woman.

The Captain half tackled Anya, wrapping her arms around her with as much gentle force as she could muster. Anya might be wounded and underfed but she was still amazingly strong. Katerina thought she might manage to throw her off, and she damn near did. But in an instant, her shoulders had sagged and a moment after that, Katerina could feel her awkward hug being returned. She breathed a sigh of relief but it was premature.

Fully awake now, Anya raised her head and startled, springing out of Katerina’s arms and scooting to the other side of the bed. Her eyes were guarded once again and Katerina gaped at the difference. Here Anya almost looked fierce, like she would slash at anyone who came near.

The Captain didn’t want to disturb her more and so made no move to follow her. Instead, she turned her body so they still faced one another. The she began to speak, slowly, quietly, until Anya raised her eyes once more.

“It’s ok, you’re ok,” she whispered. “You’re safe here.”

Anya was torn. She knew better than to trust anyone. It had never worked out for her and she resisted this stubborn woman with all her might. She had no place in her heart, no heart in its place. It had kept her alive. And yet, something was pulling, changing, deep inside her chest. She ignored it, not allowing it to rise to her surface. But it didn’t seem to matter. When she finally looked again at the Captain, the ache pulled, warning her.

Katerina watched the fine muscles of Anya’s face shift and change. She couldn’t fathom what the young woman was thinking and yet she couldn’t help but imagine how scared she must be. Even if she was so scarred she wouldn’t call it that, fear danced across those blue eyes. She desperately wanted to comfort her, an alien sensation at best. Captain James had long forgone the concept of comfort, for her or anyone else. Something in Anya was attacking that, making her wish desperately to ease the younger woman’s anxiety. She knew better than to try and approach her, though, she had to be patient.

Anya shuddered before she finally spoke.

“Thank you,” she said bashfully. “I will be ok. There is no need for your concern.” Her voice hardened, taking on a self-protective edge that chilled Katerina. She knew that tone all too well. She’d been trying to return it in kind, but had clearly been failing.

“Well, technically you are my responsibility, until we figure out where you belong, so your physical well being is kind of on me.”

“Unacceptable,” Anya replied.

“That’s too damn bad! My ship, my rules,” her anger rising dangerously. “You don’t have to like it but you have to let me check if you’re running a fever!”

They glared at each other for long minutes before the Captain stood and crossed to stand before Anya. She crudely pressed her wrist against Anya’s forehead as Anya continued to glare up at her. Sensing no trace of fever, the Captain was satisfied. She retreated to the still open doorway.

“I know this must feel, crazy, but you can trust me. I’ll be right next door.” Katerina backed away, slipping out of the door jamb, her conflicting emotions tearing at her senses.

Anya stared at her, her expression fluctuating from mistrust to misgiving as she tried to gauge this far too perceptive woman. In her defense, Anya had not actually known too many other women, women were always shifting through her world, grains of sand, it was the men, the horrible men, that had been the constants. This woman, this Katerina, looked at her as the men had, but not really, and not consciously. Her eyes said something else. And, Anya realized, she kept staring at the faint line of freckles scattered over the Captain’s high cheekbones. Curious.

“Thank you,” she replied finally, her accent nearly non-existent. “I-I will try and explain—

“Not now,” the Captain cut her off. “Tomorrow. Goodnight.”

Anya smiled tightly as Katerina turned and walked out the door. She heard the other door close before she felt the tear trickle down her cheek.


	3. The Next Day

One week before Christmas 

The storm continued to rage all through the next day. Thankfully, the generator was holding strong and there were no more wrecks. The reports from the mainland were not fantastic and the Captain regretted her crew being stranded out so far from usefulness. But if they hadn’t been on island duty, Anya might not have been saved.

Anya. Anya what? The Captain was at a loss there. Anya was more forthcoming but it wasn’t entirely helpful. Her parents had been journalists, or so she thought. She remembered they wrote stories. And they had taken her with them to someplace hot and desolate and then the fire came, and they were gone. Anya couldn’t remember much of her childhood.There’d been some orphanages but she’d run away in the end. That’s when she got picked up the first time. They were the ones who’d tattooed her. They were the ones that raped her. They were the ones the Captain wanted to kill.

It seemed Anya had seen to that already. The shipwreck was ultimately her doing, though it had been wrecked on the rocks, but not before she had lit the entire cache of guns and ammo. Anya had lit the fuse and run like hell, making a flying leap off the prow with her hands tightly bound. It was a miracle she’d made it to shore. No one else from the boat had surfaced, it was possible they never would.

Anya had calmly told most of that to Katerina while they sipped strong black coffee and munched on energy bars, their only surplus rations. The lack of a last name was puzzling Katerina but there was little she could check with only emergency comm channels functioning. She knew she shouldn’t trust Anya or take her story at face value but something in her very demeanor was painfully honest, as if she couldn’t lie. But a good liar would want to appear that way too. Still Katerina found her guard slipping a bit in the hours she spent with Anya.

Anya was horrified at how much she’d spoken. She hadn’t meant to say anything really. She hadn’t even remembered much of what she said until it fell from her lips. But she had said it. All of it. Now she felt like she should be ready to run the moment the weather cleared. There was no way she was going to hang around just to get locked up again. Her story, fragmented though it was, her story was more than anyone else would bear. It was hers alone and she intended to keep it that way. Then why had she told the Captain nearly everything?

The storm was starting to subside by nightfall but the winds were still gale force. The Doctor had seen to Anya’s wounds, wrapping her wrists in clean gauze and sending her off with some more antibiotics. He had nothing more than over the counter stuff for the pain. The real drugs were extremely rationed, especially during a storm. Anya didn’t mind. She’d certainly been in more pain and narcotics dulled her senses. She wanted to be ready to run so it was probably for the better.

Anya had dinner with the rest of the crew, most of whom she’d just been introduced. The Captain had done the introductions and was also uncharacteristically choosing to eat with her men. Actually there were two women on the crew, Anya noticed. They were an amiable bunch and dinner was both relaxing and filling. Once the crew retreated to their off duty quarters, Anya followed suit and headed towards her own.

The Captain’s door stood open. Anya paused, curious. The Captain’s back was to the door and Anya could see she still wore her uniform pants. She’d stripped down to a white t-shirt and Anya spied bare feet as well. There was a bottle of whiskey that could be seen in slice of mirror. Too late, Anya realized, the Captain had been watching Anya from that very slim bit of mirror. Panic surged into Anya’s blood though she had done nothing wrong. She fought an urge to bolt, to run even, into her own room. Instead, she stayed rooted to the spot. The Captain arched her eyebrow then and Anya felt as though she’d never move again. But then the Captain moved, turned in fact, and Anya felt her breath evaporate right along with all her saliva.

“You’re welcome to join me. I have whiskey,” the Captain, her voice gravelly, shook the bottle still clutched in her hand. The brown liquid sloshed inside the glass.

Anya was not a big drinker, but unlike with drugs, it look a fair amount of alcohol for her senses to really be compromised. It was a lucky break, and a point that had often aided in her survival. She could drink most men under the table. This lithe little redhead didn’t stand a chance.

She was not the Captain now, she was off duty and the storm had broken. Now she was just Kat. But she still shouldn’t be looking wolfishly at Anya. It wasn’t about fraternizing as Anya was certainly not a member of her crew or even technically her subordinate. It was everything else. The woman had literally washed up on shore. She had a dangerous story to tell and shouldn’t be trusted. Kat ignored her training and her common sense just by inviting Anya inside her quarters.

“Would you like a drink?” She heard herself say as klaxons in her mind blared.

“Thanks,” Anya said quietly, showing a colloquialism Kat hadn’t expected. She snorted handing over the tumbler to the blonde. Anya was such a mystery that even her speech patterns marveled Kat.

“Cheers,” she said raising her glass towards Anya’s.

“Prosit!” Anya replied. Could she be German?

The two women settled on a small couch in the Captain’s antechamber. The couch was so small, there was no configuration that kept all their limbs from glancing off each other. The Captain was doing her best to sit stiffly, touching Anya as little as possible. Anya, however, was adjusting her body every time Katrina moved away from her. A second later and she found she enjoyed the discomfit her encroaching limbs were creating. After a few minutes of this, the Captain stood up, under the guise of refreshing her drink. She was watching Anya watch her, wondering just what the hell she was getting herself into.

Anya was feeling warmer than she should have after just one drink. There was no denying the flush rising to her high, pale cheeks. Nor the feeling of giddiness that drinking had seldom produced in the past. She could feel a curious attraction building up between her and the Captain. But it made no sense Anya. She couldn’t grasp what to do with those feelings. Feelings had not had a place in her life to date. They only got in the way. She was good at banishing them. But at the moment, she couldn’t remember how.

Kat was feeling quite warm herself as she handed Anya the refilled glass before taking her seat again. Again she sat stiffly, the whiskey not relaxing her much. She shouldn’t blame the whiskey. Her whole system was in overdrive. Anya’s proximity, the flush of her cheeks, were effecting Katerina far more. The more she tried to control herself, the more control she seemed to lose. Sweat was building on her upper lip, building up everywhere it seemed. The whiskey was making her warm, it wasn’t a full body flush. It certainly had nothing to do with the lusty looks Anya was suddenly directing her way.

Anya was feeling very good by the end of the second round. She couldn’t help but flirt with the good Captain, especially not when it clearly made the redhead blush furiously. Truthfully, Anya didn’t really know what she was after. Usually, sex was a commodity to her. She had been a victim most of her life but she certainly didn’t think of herself that way. She had learned quickly how to use sex to get what she wanted. Her instincts now were to seduce Captain Kat but she realized that wasn’t what she wanted. Sex was so easy. Katerina was not. For the first time in her life Anya realized she didn’t really know what she wanted. So she stalled.

“Did you grow up here, Captain?” She asked Katerina. Anya did not want to talk more about herself. There really wasn’t much more to tell as she was concerned. So she deflected. And Kat was so caught off guard, she answered.

“No, no I grew up a long way from here. In Indiana actually. I come from a long line of farmers. And please call me Katerina, or Kat, now that I’m off duty.”

“Katerina,” she rolled the name seductively over her tongue. “Do you not miss them? Your kin?”

“My kin?” Where the hell was this girl from really? “I do. But it’s complicated. You really have no recollection of your own family?”

“Not much. Everything was taken by those bastards,” Anya all but spit the last of her whiskey. “But they cannot hurt anyone else now.”

“No, I guess not,” Kat squirmed a little, she could feel the anger surging through Anya. Instead of making her cringe or jump away, it made her lean closer to the baffling blonde. “Well, I can tell you I miss my family the most at Christmas, and since it’s right around the corner, they’ve been on my mind. But it does no good. They prefer me right where I am.”

There was a sadness behind Katerina’s eyes that Anya could understand.

“Why?” Was the blunt response that Kat was not expecting.

“Because I turned out different, I suppose. I wanted more than the farm. I wanted far more than I should have. And now there’s not much left to go back to, I burned the bridges long ago.” That was a million times more than she’d meant to say.

Katerina was not about to answer anymore, so she stood and walked over to the counter, this time she just brought the bottle of whiskey with her. She refilled Anya’s glass and then her own. She’d barely swallowed a sip when she felt Anya’s hand slide high up her thigh. She sputtered through the whiskey, coughing hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. And just as she was about to right herself, Anya moved her hand still higher, coming dangerously close to the juncture of Kat’s legs.

Anya raised her eyes, leveling them at Kat, challenging her to reject her. Katerina placed her half full glass on the coffee table then placed her hand on top of Anya’s, halting her progress. She should stop it, all of it right now!

But that’s not what she did. Instead Katerina leaned in once more, this time kissing Anya lightly on the lips. Anya sat back wide eyed, suddenly hesitant.

Kat was about to panic when Anya suddenly surged forward once more, crushing her lips against Katerina’s. Electricity surged between them as Kat returned the kiss, parting her lips ever so slightly. She couldn’t help but run her tongue around Anya’s full, full lips. Then Anya parted her lips as well and kiss deepened still further. It took only moments for them to be throughly entwined on the couch, their hearts racing.

Kat knew they should stop. She couldn’t. Nothing had felt like that kiss. And she kissed plenty in her day. Not one felt like that. And with that knowledge went the last of Katerina’s ironclad self control.

They tumbled off the tiny sofa, barely missing the jagged coffee table edge. Anya had succeeded in pinning Kat beneath her. Not to be outdone, Kat reversed her tactics, managing to flip Anya just as the blonde thought she had control. Instead of continuing on the floor, Kat began to stand up, pullIng Anya along with her. They tumbled back and into the small bedroom where they landed on the spacious twin bed with a thud of creaking springs.

Anya was back on top again, this time tearing at the remnants of Kat’s clothing like a wildcat. Kat had managed to divest Anya of her shirt. Anya’s body revealed a lot of scars but they did not detract from her natural perfection. The long slashes should have been ugly but instead they added to her curves. Kat traced them with her fingers as she continued to be kissed fiercely by Anya.

Their breasts were smashed together in a tantalizing pain, but they were so lip-locked it took near asphyxiation for either to notice. When they broke apart to gulp air, Kat took the opportunity to slide her hands still higher until she was cupping Anya’s glorious breast’s. Anya moaned then and the sound shot straight up Katerina’s spine, emboldening her still further.

Using her tongue, Kat traced circular patterns around Anya’s right breast until she reach the rosy, nipple at the center. She was quick to place her gentle tongue with the quick edge of her teeth, lightly scraping the sensitive flesh. She earned another moan for that as Anya cast her head back. Kat quickly moved to the other breast to begin again and it wasn’t long before they were both so aroused their actions became more frantic. Anya desperately wanted to touch Kat as well and used her greater body mass to temporarily subdue the redhead. Then she began nipping at her neck, her collarbone, the soft, tight skin of her freckled upper chest. Then across one breast right to the other and back again until Kat was writing beneath her, grunting with each lash of Anya’s tongue.

Kat’s hands began to fly again, and as Anya concentrated on her sensitive breasts, Kat’s left hand dropped quickly to Anya’s sharp hip bone. She slid her fingers smoothly across the hollow curve, following the line down until her hand settled between Anya’s long legs. She was dripping and Kat’s fingers slid, expecting to encounter some thatch but there was no resistance, just the faintest hint of stubble. It scraped lightly against Kat’s fingers making her own loins burn.

Anya practically screamed at Kat’s touch. Her every nerve was jumping and buzzing. It was as if she’d never been touched before, which seemed ridiculous. Except she hadn’t. She’d been mauled and molested, bought and paid for, and tossed away. This was not that though what it was, Anya did not know. At the moment she didn’t care. She just wanted more. And Kat read her mind, plunging two fingers, then three deep inside her. She got her scream too as Anya could not contain herself.

Kat’s fingers moved quickly, finding a fierce rhythm as Anya clutched and thrust against her, their sweat slick limbs sliding against each other at a frenetic pace. Anya’s whole body tensed for a long second before orgasmic spasms racked through her and as they did, she fell back, pulling Kat with her. Kat stilled her fingers as she felt the wave subside. As she slowly withdrew them, Anya whimpered. Then Kat felt her own legs being parted as the tips of Anya’s long fingers reached further into her swampy depths. She slid her fingers against Anya’s straining clit in response. Soon they were moving fast and furious, no thoughts, just the sheer bliss of meeting in the middle. They came together at the end, their eyes meeting briefly before they tumbled to the edge of oblivion, neither looking back.

There were tears running down Anya’s cheeks Kat noticed when her vision returned. She kissed Anya’s soft, wet cheek then kissed her closed, crying eyes.

“Never was it like this,” it was a whisper, words Anya hadn’t meant to say aloud.

“No,” whispered Kat in return as she kissed her other eye then finally she kissed Anya’s lips, nearly falling into them all over again. As she pulled herself back, she realized she was parched for thirst. She reached over the side of the bed and retrieved a mostly full canteen of water. She passed it to Anya first.

“It’s just water.”

Anya took a tentative sip then two long gulps before handing it back to Kat.

“You are sweet. Did I say that right?”

“Yes. You are sweet as well.”

Anya was glad it was fairly dark in the small room, she could feel another intense blush heating her face. Anya made a move to get up but Kat clasped her wrist, forgetting about the sprain.

“Yow,” Anya howled.

“Omigod I forgot! I’m sorry! I just—oh I just wanted to say don’t go,” Kat was now the one grateful for the cover of dark but it was baseless. Anya sunk back down into the too small bed and folded her long limbs around Kat as if it had happened a million times before. They both fell asleep in minutes, dreaming their own dreams, sharing the same pillow.

Kat woke at six to an empty bed. She wasn’t entirely shocked but she was saddened nonetheless. She would be shocked to find that Anya was nowhere to be found though. She’d done a runner. But she could only get so far on the island. The first ferry wasn’t for many hours. But Kat had a sick feeling in her gut about it. Regret boiled up hot and red in the back of her throat. She felt momentarily dizzy at the height of her own idiocy. So she acted. She got showered and dressed. Checked in with her men as they looked out over a finally clear day. Not one of them had seen Anya that morning. Kat’s heart fell more. She had the distinct feeling Anya had the power to stay hidden unless she wanted to be found.

Anya hadn’t wanted to go but she did anyway. She gathered herself up in the dark, layering random clothing and stealing a pair of boots from the storeroom before grabbing a handful of ration bars and slipping out the door. She knew she’d have to hide a bit. Katerina had mentioned there was a ferry. Anya had no means of taking it but she would think of a way onboard. It was a long shot at best.

The sun had begun to rise and Anya looked out over the island for the first time. The barren waste of the snow glowed under warm amber rays, reflecting immensely and blinding Anya as she stared at the blue shadows in her path. Her feet had taken her back to the water’s edge, not far from the place she’d washed up. She figured if she stuck to the shoreline, she’d eventually find the dock and the ferry.


	4. Christmas

Christmas Eve

Anya had indeed disappeared without a trace. Katerina was disgusted with herself. If she had just been able to control herself, god she never could though, Anya would still be here. But now she could be anywhere. She could have cast herself back into the sea for all anyone knew and the guilt of that hung like a noose around the Captain’s neck. She didn’t even have a last name to work from. It was as if she’d dreamt the whole thing.

Her crew was granted their leave time yesterday, she wouldn’t see them all for over a week. They were to report for duty again on New Years Day. The Captain dutifully thanked them for their extra service during the storm and in the fruitless search for Anya. Then they were gone. The Doctor was the last to go, he waited until that morning, Christmas Eve, to depart. First, he pressed a fat manila folder into her hand.

“Merry Christmas,” he said. “I just finished compiling it. The connections were slow to come back online. We may not know where she is, but at least we know who she was.”

“Thank you, I think, but how?” the Captain said opening the folder to a stack of black and white printouts. Hancock? Her last name was Hancock? Anna Hancock?

“I’d taken a picture of her neck tattoo. I thought we might need it for evidence. Of course that’s before I knew she blew them all up. Anyway, the tattoo was traceable to one specific gang, one that specialized in kidnapping orphans. When I looked at reports of the kidnappings, I found there was a pattern to the numbers in the barcode. When I scanned it, it revealed a last name, encrypted in the code. When I matched that to the kidnapped lists, I confirmed it.”

The Captain was staring at the pages. Her parents had been journalists. They’d been swept up in the winds of war and their young daughter, Anna Hancock, was buffeting and bruised by those same gales. They blew her far from the desert to the heart of Russia where she bounced from orphanage to orphanage until the record ended. Just a report of twelve girls, between the ages of eleven and sixteen, that were kidnapped from an orphanage on the outskirts of Moscow.

The thing was, Anya had been reared in the U.S. The Captain did not know why she knew that, but it was the only explanation for both Anya’s shifting accents as well as her worldly knowledge. Her colloquialisms were distinctly American. It didn’t add up. And losing her would look terrible in her log. But the Doctor’s search likely alerted her superiors to Anya’s existence and so there was little she could do but record it all.

“There is no reason to add Anya to your logbook,” he said, reading her mind. “I’m not suggesting you don’t but there is no official record from my search. It was purely research.”

He smiled then, stepping back and slipped into the heavy parka he’d been holding. It was nearly time to catch the last ferry to the mainland. They stopped service early on Christmas Eve.

“Don’t beat yourself up over this, Kat, please,” he plead, evading her rank.

“You saved her, she survived, and only we know about it. That’s gotta be enough. I hope you find some holiday cheer. I left you another present in the mess,” then he leaned forward, and breaking all protocol, kissed her lightly on the cheek. Then he was off and silence enveloped Katerina. She decided to busy herself with chores then treat herself to something, perhaps a hot bath.

It was not quite night yet but the Prussian blue twilight had begun to stretch across the fields of white. Katerina would man the lamp tonight herself. An ensign would relieve her tomorrow afternoon. It was rare that Kat was alone, completely alone. It was unsettling. It was a relief. Kat didn’t really know which it was, both she supposed.

The lamp was automatically timed. The Captain checked it as dusk fell, satisfied that it was performing within acceptable parameters. The weather report was thankfully clear for the next few days, it would only be brutally cold. That was a relief. Plus the height of winter did slow the shipping lanes of the North Atlantic. The Captain prayed for just enough clear to get a little break, a little respite.

Technically she was on duty, and normally that was sacrosanct but it was Christmas Eve and her nerves were raw. The Doctors present, a fresh bottle of whiskey wrapped with a bright red bow sat wrapped on the mess hall’s long counter, just tempting her. She ignored the urge to pour two fat fingers and gulp it down. She thought she’d make a fire in her quarters instead.

It was indeed frigid outside, the wind burned her face an hands in an arctic blast as she quickly grabbed an armload of dry firewood. Something crunched in the icy snow. Katerina stood upright into the gale and listened as her eyes raked the darkness of the moonless night. There was no other noise, no movement she could see in the night air. Just the distant lapping of calm waves against the shore. She shook her head and carried the firewood inside, locking the heavy hatch door behind her.

Ensconced in her quarters, Katerina quickly built a decent fire. She was still clad in her uniform but had conceded to taking off her boots. There she sat, in her armchair by the fire, sipping whiskey and flipping through the pages of Anna Hancock’s young, stolen life. Regret surged through her veins and she rued giving into the young woman. She blamed herself for her disappearance.

She thought of Jacob Marley. It was Christmas after all. Anya was a new link in her chains. She could have saved her. But she chose to be selfish instead. The whiskey was burning in all the wrong ways and she set the near empty glass aside and stared into the dancing flames before her eyes. Her eyes grew heavy as she stared into the frolicking orange glow of the fire.

_She was back in Indiana, on the farm. It was winter, it was deserted, it was barren. She sat up in her childhood bed and stared out the window at the windswept fields of white._

_Suddenly, there was a howling sound and Kat jumped out of bed, terrified. She looked around but could see nothing. The howl came again but this time she looked down. At her feet, and screaming, was an old barn cat, one that she had loved dearly. He was a grey tabby. His name had been Marley._

_Kat bent and scooped up Marley in her arms as he began to purr loudly._

_“About time!” The cat said, and Katerina was so startled, she almost dropped the poor thing._

_“You can talk?”_

_“It’s about time you understood me! Now don’t get distracted here. I’m trying to help you out. You were always nice to me and all.”_

_Katerina was desperately confused. She realized she was standing in the snow. She was barefoot too but her feet were quite warm._

_“You have to find her,” the cat said._

_“That’s impossible. She’s gone. Past tense already.”_

_“Unacceptable,” countered the mouthy feline. “But let me tell you why.”_

_With a flash of light and a whirl of color, Katerina was swept forward, carried on an invisible wave. When her vision cleared, she realized that they were all still alive! She ran to the window of the house and pressed her nose to the glass. They were there! Her parents! Her sister! Her brother! Her! That had been a great Christmas. The last one they’d had with their father. They looked so happy! She’d forgotten. Not them, she could never forget them. But she’d forgotten how it had felt._

_She stared and stared, her feet rooted to the spot. She could have stood there forever but all too fast it faded away. Suddenly it was the present again. Or almost the present. It was the dead of night. Suddenly she saw Anya. She was getting dressed in a hurry. Her clothes were a pilfered collection of uniform parts and sweats. Her eyes looked haunted in the dim light. She was hastily writing a note? She hadn’t found a note._

**_Thank you dear Katerina. You saved me. But I know you have duty and I respect that. I respect you. Very much. I—_ **

****

_She stopped writing and looked down. She crumpled the note and tossed it under the cot. Then she wiped at her eyes and carefully slipped away into the night._

Ccchhhhhheeeeeeerooop!

Her alarm filled the silent night and jolted the sleeping Captain back to wakefulness. The fire had burned to embers. She stood stiffly _,_ shaking her head, trying to grab hold of any scrap of the dream she’d been having. But it was gone. All she could remember was that there was a cat, the rest vaporized with the sound of the alarm.

She had to check the lamp. And the comm channels. No emergency hails had come in, it was hopefully still all clear. The Captain stretched for a moment before making her way out of her quarters. She wanted some coffee and decided to stop in the mess. It would only take a few minutes.

Katerina had scarcely made it it out her door when a strange urge came over her and she turned around. Her feet took her into the spare quarters and she found herself on her hands and knees, sweeping beneath the cot.

Her fingers felt it first and she grabbed hold of the paper, pulling it out with a strange look on her face.

She had seen it before?

And Anya hadn’t left _her_.

What the fuck?

Kat sat on the floor, gobsmacked by it all. Something weird was afoot. She just needed to wake up more, shake it off. So she stood and walked herself to the mess where she quickly brewed a thermos of coffee. She took the thermos with her as she climbed the last flights to the lamp itself. There was a chair set for the watch. It was just an old metal folding chair, not big on comfort. Of course you didn’t want your watchmen too comfortable. They had to stay awake after all. Kat checked the controls and once satisfied, sat down on the crappy chair.

The coffee was brilliant, it saved her as she burned her lips lapping at it. She desperately wished she had a cigarette but she’d given them up a long time ago. There was something hypnotic in the air, though you could see remarkably little even where the beams of light reached. The sea was calm. A crescent moon hung low and lazy on its back, just barely above the horizon. The stars were bright but obscured by wisps of clouds, white in the light.

_The room whirled around her, light refracting, spinning, until, with a thump, it stopped. She was in a place she didn’t know, couldn’t place. Marley looked up at her. She hadn’t noticed him once again._

_“Future. Could be? Will be? Who knows?” Then, with a lick of his front paw, he turned and stalked away from Kat._

_She looked around. It appeared to be a courtroom but no matter how she squinted her eyes, it wouldn’t come into focus. She could hear it clearly. And she was the one on trial!_

_Crimes against humanity? Abandoning her crew? What the hell? She’d never left anyone behind, not ever!_

_Suddenly she could see through the mist before her. She stood on the beach now. Anya lay in the surf. Kat ran to her but found she could not touch her, her hand passed right through. Kat was nothing more than a spectre, watching uselessly as Anya lay dying before her._

_Where were her men? Where was she? This was not what happened!_

_“No,” said Marley, but it wasn’t Marley at all that appeared out of nowhere. It was a large skeleton of a cat speaking ghoulishly in Marley’s voice. “But if you hadn’t been here, fighting the elements with your crew, Anya would have died. You rue your life, your choices, your pain. You rue the losses. It will consume your whole life, making you hard as stone, and like a stone, you will sink namelessly to the bottom of the sea. Suddenly, Kat felt water all around her, dragging her down. Terrified, she flailed but her mouth filled with water when she began to scream. She couldn’t make a sound. She knew she fucked up. She couldn’t fix it. She looked down into the watery depths to see Anya, pulling her deeper and deeper beneath the surface._

She woke with a start, toppling off the flimsy chair. What was the matter with her? Luckily it had only been a few minutes. It had seemed longer. She was drenched with sweat and her breath harm in hard, harsh wheezes. But it came, she was alive! But why, what did it all mean? Kat wasn’t sure she wanted to know. The details had faded as soon as she opened her eyes. Just the terror and relief remained. And Anya, something about Anya. She took one last look at the monitors and the horizon marks then retreated back to her toasty warm quarters below.

Katerina had no interest in sleeping or even drinking more. She was more than addled. And being after four am on Christmas morning gave her pitiful few options for talking it out. In fact it gave her exactly none. She paced for a bit, the caffeine finally reaching its mark as well. Images of Anya assaulted her. She looked down at the crumpled, tossed away, note. It made no sense. Had she actually wanted to stay? That made even less sense.

Kat’s head ached and her stomach growled. One of her ensigns had given her a coffee cake for Christmas and she tore into it now like she’d never eaten before in her life. She was ravenous. But just as she was about to shovel another mouthful, she heard a noise, coming from the room next door. Kat jumped to her feet, and fumbled for her sidearm. But it was too late, the intruder was suddenly standing in her doorway.

  
  


Christmas Day

“You came back?” Kat’s jaw was on the ground. This couldn’t possibly be real. She must still be dreaming. But then, where was Marley?

Anya had yet to speak. Instead, she took another step towards the gaping redhead.

“You—

The words stopped as a Kat found herself nose to nose with Anya. Her heart was pounding so loudly she was sure that Anya could hear it.

“Came back,” Anya whispered. “I did. I did for you. Turn me in if you want but I had to see you again.” Anya’s sapphire eyes burned, a cold fusion reaction that throughly entranced Kat.

“I don’t need to turn you in, but we will have to still deal with some stuff. I—

Kat didn’t get to finish the sentence. Anya pounced, crushing her lips against Kat’s. When they finally broke apart, Kat gulping for breath as Anya smirked.

“Sometimes, you talk too much,” Anya said tauntingly.

“Sometimes I do,” Kat replied with more candor than Anya had counted. “But not tonight. Tonight I just need to know why, why you really came back? You barely know me.”

Anya reached her arms around Kat, pulling her close once more. She lowered her face, this time to the nape of Kat’s neck. She inhaled deeply, then she nipped lightly at the sensitive skin.

Kat shuddered in her arms as she fought to maintain her composure. This was all too much. She must be asleep.

She wasn’t asleep though. And night was quickly coming to a close.

Anya grabbed her by the hand and tugged her out from her quarters and up to the walkway outside the lamp. She had grabbed two parkas and thrust one at Katerina.

It was freezing on the catwalk, but the view was exquisite, the first sun of Christmas morning. The light crept up, shifting through a brilliant blue-scale until the first rays broke over the Atlantic. Anya stood very close to Katerina. She watched the redhead watching the sunrise. Her heart began to pound. She worried she did not have the words for a proper reply. Instead, she wrapped her arm around Kat’s waist, pulling her close.

The sky was so clear they could practically see into space. Their eyes were both locked on the shifting colors of dawn. The royal blue blanching into yellow tinged with pink, a thin line of red just trailing the horizon. The sun cut the water in two, the white crests bobbing gold on both sides. Anya inhaled sharply and Kat turned to look at her.

She was Aurora, goddess of the dawn. The wind had blown back the furry hood of her parka and her shorn blonde hair glowed like a halo. Kat couldn’t breathe. She must be dreaming. Anya tensed at her side. The wind bit at her face. She wasn’t dreaming.

“I saw a movie, it was about Christmas. And I remembered Christmas. With my parents. Before. And I that’s when I knew I wanted to spend Christmas with you,” Anya said slowly. “I came back because I belong, here, with you. Never have I felt belonging. Closeness.”

Kat stared at Anya, the words catching in her throat. There were no words. So she twisted her body upwards and captured Anya lips in a searing kiss. When the need for oxygen overtook them, they gasped apart, their rapid exhalations creating a dense fog in the frigid air. Kat pulled at Anya, dragging her back inside.

“I have to show you something. And I need you to know, I want to know anything you want to share.”

“I know, Katerina. You are a good listener, especially for one who talks so much,” Anya’s eyes twinkled at her own joke.

They’d reached the Captain’s quarters and Anya followed Kat inside.

“Have a seat,” Kat said as she crossed the room to retrieve the folder. She then turned and dropped it unceremoniously in Anya’s lap. The she watched Anya’s eyes grow wider than it seemed possible.

“Hancock,” she said. “How could I forget that?”

“You had to protect yourself. The mind can do some crazy stuff sometimes,” Kat replied, sitting down next to Anya on the sofa.

“How did you find this?”

“The Doctor did. He used your tattoo.”

“It is remarkable.” Anya’s eyes were locked on the folder. Then she looked up, quickly shifting her gaze to Katerina. “But it is not who I am anymore.”

“You are who you pretend to be—

“That is Vonnegut’s,” Anya said.

“You know Kurt Vonnegut? How?”

“This will be great fun,” Anya said coyly, her vagueness entrapping Kat.

“What will?”

“Surprising you,” Anya smiled. Then she leaned over and kissed Katerina. They wrapped their bodies together on the too small couch but their lust could not be contained by such tiny furniture. They tumbled to the floor, just as they had the first time. But now Kat burst into a fit of laughter. Anya looked at her curiously until the spasms subsided and a Kat caught her breath.

“What is so funny?” Anya said, unsure whether to be offended or not. A pout hovered on her lips.

“Oh, I was just thinking I must have been better than I thought this year. Santa has never delivered anything I wanted as much as I want you. I wished for you to come back. And I don’t usually believe in stuff like that.”

“Stuff like what? Magic?”

“You’re right, you are magic,” Kat said smiling as she kissed Anya once more.

Many hours later

Anya sat across from Kat at the smaller table in the mess hall. To her right sat Lieutenant Beth Torrent who was taking over the watch tonight. Lieutenant Torrent, or rather the lieutenant’s mother, had taken great pity on the Captain, working all alone on Christmas. She’d packed up a veritable feast of turkey and all the trimmings. The lieutenant had been more than surprised to see Anya returned, though looking at the Captain’s face, she was a little less surprised. There was definitely enough food to feed them all. And the Captain, the Captain was smiling. Beth was fairly certain she’d never seen the woman smile before, certainly not as broadly as she’d been beaming since Beth arrived.

The food was amazing and Mrs Torrent had even wrapped up some gingerbread cake and cookies for them. Anya had retreated back to the spare room after they’d finished dinner. She took the folder with her. The Captain set to making a fresh pot of coffee and Torrent trailed up behind her.

“So you and her? For real?” The whole crew referred to the Captain as the dragon lady. The thought of her as a human woman had scarce crossed their minds.

“Yeah, well it’ll be complicated. But I don’t know. What I do know is she sees me, and I can’t deny her, anything it seems,” the Captain turned to pour the coffee, the tinge of a blush creeping up her cheeks.

“But she’s a person with no country. Plus there’s a lot of regulations you’re skirting around even now? I’ve never known you to be so reckless.”

“No?”

“Ok, wrong word. But this isn’t some little thing.”

“That hasn’t escaped me. But for right now, it’s Christmas and I’m willing to just celebrate that she came back. Hell, if I have to marry her to keep her here, I will.”

“Whoa there, wow. I never thought I’d hear you talk like that.”

“Something snapped in me, something catalytic and permanent. I can’t go back,” Katerina’s eyes were soft upon her junior officer. She’d always liked Beth. It was somehow fitting she was the first to know.

“Well, if anyone can make it work, it’d be you. Congrats, I think,” Beth said clinking her coffee cup against the Captain’s. “I’m going to head up and take my post. You have a good night, Captain,” Beth said quickly and then was gone.

Katerina took her mug of coffee with as she dimmed the lights of the mess. She walked out to the corridor but instead of walking straight to her quarters, she veered left and headed outside.

The sky was unbelievably clear, the stars so bright and dense, Kat felt like she could touch them if she stood high enough. It was sharply quiet, the wind had calmed. Only the waves broke the night, slapping against the shore, beating out a soothing, rhythm older than mankind. Kat breathed deeply, the icy air freezing her nostrils after only a minute. She looked out, past the lights from the lamp, past the dark jagged rocks, out to the harshness of the open sea. Except it wasn’t harsh right now, it was practically ironed smooth. Kat felt her pulse still and she continued to gulp in the frigid air and exhaling it in huge clouds of vapor that obscured her sight. She looked up to the slender moon, a silvery arc hanging low and lazy. Kat said a silent prayer and even though she wasn’t sure if she even believed in God, she knew she was grateful for whatever force that had blown Anya into her life. She could have gone the rest of her days never knowing what she missed. She may not have a plan yet but she would. Beth was right, both about the immensity of the situation and the faith she had in her Captain. Kat may not have shared her faith but she knew she would fight to the end for Anya. That wasn’t a bad place to start.

Now, she headed back inside, to the warm glow, leaving behind the night and her endless questions. Kat bolted the door then shucked her boots before mounting the stairs two at a time. She was a little winded when she reached her door but her breath left completely once she opened it. In her bed, stretched out naked, was Anya. She’d tied a red ribbon around her torso, the large bow barely concealing her beautiful breasts. Kat gasped for air.

“I have no present for you, so I will have to do?” Anya actually looked nervous.

Kat closed the short distance between them and bent to kiss Anya hard on the lips.

“I love you,” she said, her breath still coming hard.

“I—I love you too, Katerina,” Anya seemed shocked at the words tumbling from her lips. But she found as soon as she said them, she meant it. She had no basis for comparison but only love could possibly feel this terrifyingly satisfying. Anya wrapped her strong arms around Kat and pulled her hard. Still clothed, Kat collapsed on top of Anya, half kissing her and half giggling.

“Merry Christmas, dearheart,” Kat whispered in Anya’s ear.

“Merry Christmas, my Captain.”

The End

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Solstice!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this little side romp.
> 
> Thanks as always for liking and commenting. You guys really are the best!
> 
> Here’s to a return of the light and all the joy that brings!

**Author's Note:**

> Well?
> 
> Please let me know what you think. All comments and kudos welcome.
> 
> Cheers!


End file.
